Folding play-yard



H. J. LANDRY FOLDING PLAY-YARD Aug'. 5, 1958 Filed March a, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 "HI 37 Hm.

FIGB

INVENTOR HENRY J. LANDRY MM/294,, ATTOFNEY Aug. 5, 1958 H. J. LANDRY 2,845,634

' FOLDING PLAY-YARD Filed March a, 1955- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. IOgI; F I6. I?) 48 5'0 6 INVENTOR HENRY J. LANDRY "I ,44 5 2 w 5 M 42%; o o o 00 l v |uumu||n|u|| |||||r| @I 50 40 5 v ATTORNEY United States Patent FOLDING PLAY-YARD Henry J. Landry, Ashburnham, Mass. Application March 3., 1955, Serial N 0, 491,862-

12 Claims. (Cl. '-99) This inventionrelates to a new;- and improved folding play-yard, and the principal object of the invention resides in the. provision of automatic means for folding the floor from a single point at an edge of the play-yard, the folding operation being quick, easy and provided for by a relatively. simple, uncomplicated positive-acting construction including; means, for holding the floor in folded, condition as long as desired, and particularly while folding the. wall portion of the. play-yard over upon the folded floor.

Other objects of the. invention include theprovision of a folded structure in. the. nature. of. a play-yard comprising an articulated wall'which is'foldable and an attached articulated floor also foldable, said, floor being pivotally. associated with one ofthe wall partswhich is mounted upon corner posts to have a. sliding motion parallel to the corner posts and at an angle. to the. lengths of the remaining Wall parts, said sliding-wall part having means engaging a projection or projections on the floor or, on a part. thereof, so that said wall. automatically fol'dsthe floor by pivoting the same upon sliding motion in one direction, and releases the floor for extension to extend the floor, upon relative sliding motion. in the opposite directiomthe provision of a folding play-yard as above described wherein the. motion of the sliding wall part is vertical, so that the floor is folded by the operator merely pushing down upon the sliding wall part and thus automatically folding the floor, the

articulated wall parts being quickly and easily manually folded; and whereby the-fioor is extended by gravity upon; raising the-sliding wall afterhaving unfoldedthe other wall portions of the play yard.

A still further object of' the invention resides in the provision of a folding leg secured under one of the foldable floor parts and including a connection between the folding leg. and the slidable wall of the play-yard for extension and folding of" said-leg occasioned by appropriate sliding'motions of'th'e slidable wall part;:

and thepro-visionof an automatic extensible supporting leg for'thefloorof the play-yard having an operator element which. is pivoted to the-sliding wall thereof and. to the folding leg, said folding leg when being extended, engaging another floor part and extending the same, so that; fl'lCz-flOOIlS quickly andeasily unfolded or, extended in operative condition for use.

Other-objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is, to berhadz to; the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. l is a view inyfrontelevation of a construction I according to theapresent invention showing the same with. the sliding; wall in downward position and. the play-yard completely folded, parts being broken away; Fig.. 2 is a. similar viewillustrating the sliding wall in up position and the floor parts in. extended condition ready for use;

Fig. 3' is a. plan view showing the playryard folded and looking in the direction of arrow 3"inFi'g l;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4-4 of Fig; 2;

Figs. 5 and 6 are sections onlines 5-5"and"6-"-"-6 in Fig. 4; v

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on line 7-7 ofFigl'Z;

Fig; 8 is a sectional view similar'to Fig. 5 andshowing a modified form thereof; 3

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the action of the sliding wall in pivoting'the floo'r'and' locking, the same;

Fig. 10 is a view illustrating the action of the extensible folding leg;

Fig; 11 is a section on line 1 11'1 of'Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a section on line 1212 of Fig. 11';. a nd Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic view-illustrating the" relation of the sliding wall tothe floor in hori'zontalcondi'tion of the. latter. I

In carrying out the presentinventidn, the sameis shown as illustrated with respect to a more or less conventional type of folding play-yard which has a rigid rear wall 10, substantially conventional in-swinging or in-folding articulatedv side walls 12 which are hinged'at corresponding ends thereof to the respective ends of the rear wall 10 at each side of the play-yard, and there being a front wall 14 which in this case is completely novel because although it is rigid and does not itself fold, it is mounted for a relative moti'on with respect to the remainder of the parts ofv the play-yard for a novel folding action of the door,

In the present illustration, the front Wall14 is shown as slidably mounted on a pair of corner post s l6 wh ich and the respective corner posts, it being seen thatthe brackets 18 are offset at their endsas at 28'to provide a suitable space for the heads 26.

The, construction at the lower rail 23 of the sliding front wall 14 is substantially the same, the brackets. 24 on the bottom rail being the same as those on the top rail and engaging the brackets 20 in the same manner, the brackets 20 being offset from the corner posts-like brackets 18. The heads 26 of brackets 24 are best seen in Fig. 6, these heads being spaced from the brackets ,24 by short necks 30 which extend through the slots in the brackets, these slots being, indicated M32 in Figs. 4 and 5.

The play-yard floor may assume many different forms but is here illustrated as comprising a pair of articulated members 34 and 36. The floor part 34 is pivoted as at 38 to the play-yard construction particularly with respect to the corner posts 16 (see Fig. 10). However, this pivot axis may be arranged where desired or where necessary. The floor part 36 has less width. than the floor part 34 and is hinged thereto as at 42. It is seen in Fig. 10 that the floor parts 34 and 36 are positioned substantially vertically in folded condition thereof and they will rest against the sliding front wall 14 as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

At each end of the wider floor part 34, there is provided an extension or projection which is generally indicated at 44. In general this projection is in extension of the floor part 34 and below the same, and it is rigid therewith extendingbeyond the end thereof at 46 to project slightly outwardly and. under the lower rail 23 of the slidable play-yard wall part 14, or more specifically under the heads 26 of the brackets 24 as clearly shown in Fig. 9, these heads resting upon outwardly cam-shapedterminal portions 48 of the respective; projections 44.

When the floor parts are down in horizontal position ready for use, the heads 26 rest on and in part are supported by the upper substantially fiat edge portions 50 of the terminal cam portions of the projections 44 (see Fig.

13)., When it is desired to fold the floor, the operatorpushes down upon the sliding wall 14, thus causing a pivoting action of floor part 34 in a counter-clockwise direction in Figs. 9 and 13, and this motion being continued, the

floor part 34 gradually comes up to the solid line positerminal cam portion 48 of the projection 44 will appear as in the dotted line of Fig. 9 and the toe thereof bears upon the lateral edge of the head 26. This action locks the floor in its folded condition, so that it requires an upward pull on the slidingv wall to release the floor and allow it to be extended, i. e. descend into operative position. Unless the slidable wall is moved upward, the floor will not unfold and at all times the operator has full control of the folding and extending action of the floor and may make it as fast or as slow as desired.

At the lower rail 23 of the sliding wall 14, there is provided a small bracket indicated at '4 and to this bracket there is pivoted a rigid rod 56, the other end of which is pivotally mounted on a folding leg 58 which is pivoted at 60 to the under side of a floor part 34.

By this construction, when the sliding wall 14 is in down position as in Fig. l, the folding leg 58 is necessarily folded to its extreme position upon the floor parts 34 and 36. However, when it is desired to extend the floor, and the front wall 14 is started to be raised, this requires that the element 56 start to extend the folded leg 58 since the element 56 is connected thereto at a point removed from the pivot 60 thereof. This extending action of the folding leg 58 operates to engage and push to the left in Fig. the floor part 36 and therefore upon raising of the front wall 14, the entire floor is unfolded and is placed in position where it can come down to rest on supports 52 and upon the rear wall support 53 which is on a level therewith and shown in Fig. 3.

The leg 58 is mounted in slightly offset or canted relation relative to the floor 34 in order that the caster 62 shall tend to swivel downward by gravity into flat contacting relation with the floor parts.

The caster 62 may be mounted upon a pipe-like element 64 which is telescopically received in a bent trough-like member 66 forming a part of the leg 58, and these members may be provided with a series of corresponding apertures 68 for reception of a connecting cotter-pin 70. This provides a length adjustment of the leg 58, depending upon the requirement of the height of the floor above the ground level.

Instead of using the brackets 18 and 24, the top and bottom rails of the sliding front wall 14 may be provided with end-extending pins such as those shown at 72 in Fig. 8, and these pins may extend through cross slots 74 in the end posts 16 to guide the slidable wall 14 in its vertical motion as determined by the operator. The pins 72 are provided with head means 76 and this construction as well as the construction of the brackets 24, 18 and will prevent any possible twisting elfect between the corner posts of the play-yard and the wall portions thereof, thus rigidifying the entire construction.

It will be seen that this invention provides a relatively simple folding play-yard construction where the floor is folded merely by the operator bearing down upon the top rail of the slidable front wall 14; and the construction also locks the floor in this folded position, so that the operator need not hold the same while manually bringing in the in-folding side walls 12. This play-yard will occupy when folded the same space as any conventional play-yard and also it will he noted that the occupant of the playyard on any part of the floor thereof will resist folding 4 of the play-yard, so that it cannot accidentally be folded when there is an occupant.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A folding play-yard comprising a multi-part folding enclosure and an articulated folding floor, the floor being pivoted to parts of the enclosure, means folding the floor within the enclosure, another part of the enclosure slidably engaging and operating said floor-folding means to fold the floor, said means including an element to hold the floor folded.

2. A folding play-yard comprising a multi-part wall, the parts of the wall being articulated and foldable, and a multi-part floor, the parts of the floor being articulated and foldable, a part of the wall having a rectilinear motion relative to the other parts thereof, and a projection on one part of the floor slidably engaged by the said movable wall part to cause folding of the floor.

3. A folding play-yard comprising a multi-part continuous wall, the parts of the wall being articulated and foldable, and a multi-part floor, the parts of the floor being foldable, a part of the wall having a rectilinear motion relative to the other parts thereof, and a projection on one part of the floor engaged by the said movable wall part to cause folding of the floor, said projection including an upturned and extending beyond the movable wall part in extended condition of the playyard.

4. A folding structure comprising an articulated multiwall forming a foldable enclosure, a folding floor therefor, means mounting one wall part for rectilinear sliding motion relative to the adjacent wall parts and generally at a right angle to the floor when extended, a projection on the floor in the path of motion of the sliding wall part, said projection comprising means folding the floor upon engagement thereby of the sliding wall part.

5. A folding enclosure having a folding floor comprising a series of wall parts and a plurality of articulated floor parts, means to fold the floor, means to extend the floor, said last-named means being connected to a floor part and a wall part, and means providing relative motion between the floor and wall parts connected by the fioor extending means, said floor-extending means comprising a folding leg on one floor part, an element pivotally associated therewith and with the wall part, said element extending the leg upon relative motion of the wall part ,in one direction and folding the leg upon relative motion of the wall part in the other direction, the leg having a free end engaging another floor part to engage and extend the latter upon extension of the leg by said element.

6. A folding structure comprising a series of wall parts forming an enclosure, a floor part pivoted with relation to a pair of corner posts, a projection on the floor part extending therefrom past the axis of the pivot, said corner posts slidably mounting one wall part therebetween, said one wall part having a sliding motion at an angle to the floor and engaging the projection to fold the floor part relative to the one wall part into parallelism therewith, the projection being thereby substantially parallel with the one wall part.

7. A folding structure comprising a series of wall parts forming an enclosure, a floor part pivoted with relation to a pair of wall parts, a projection on the floor part extending therefrom past the axis of the pivot of said pair of wall parts, one wall part having a motion at an angle to the floor and engaging the projection to fold the fioor part relative to the wall part into parallelism therewith, the projection being thereby substantially parallel with the wall part, and means on the wall part engaging the projection in this position and holding the latter and the floor in folded condition, said movable wall part and said projection being otherwise unconnected and free of each other.

8. A folding play-yard comprising a pair of corner posts, a wall rectilinearly slidably mounted on'and between the corner posts, further walls in articulated relation to the corner posts to enable folding of the walls, a floor mounted in pivotable relationship to the corner posts, the major part of the floor being located at one side of the pivot axis thereof and a projection at the other side of the axis, means on the slidable wall engaging the projection and causing pivotable folding of the floor upon sliding motion in one direction on the corner posts and allowing extension of the floor upon motion in the other direction.

9. The folding play-yard of claim 8 wherein the projection is generally parallel to the floor and the floor and projection are positionable parallel to the slidable wall in folded condition, said wall engaging and holding the projection in said folded condition, and the motion of the wall on the corner posts being parallel to the folded floor and releasing the projection in one direction of the motion of the wall.

10. A folding structure comprising a folding multipart wall forming an enclosure and a folding multi-part articulated floor, said floor being pivoted adjacent an edge of a part thereof to a pair of wall parts and having another part free of the wall, a leg member pivoted to the first-named floor part, and an element connected to the member and to a wall part, means mounting the latter for motion relative to the other wall parts and to the floor and extending the leg member as the wall part moves in one direction, said leg member having a free end engaging and extending the other free part of the floor as the first-named part of the floor pivots from folded toward extended condition.

11. The folding structure of claim 10 wherein the element extends the leg member to a position at right angles to the unfolded floor to enable the leg member to support the latter and upon reverse motion of the floor part retracts the leg member into folded parallelism with relation to the first floor part.

12. A folding play'yard comprising a multi-part continuous wall, the parts of the wall being articulated and foldable, and a multi-part floor, the parts of the floor being foldable, one part of the wall having a rectilinear motion relative to the other parts thereof, and a projection on one part of the floor engaged by the said movable wall part to cause folding of the floor, said projection including an upturned end extending beyond the movable wall part in unfolded condition of the playyard, said upturned end laterally engaging the movable wall part in folded condition of the play-yard, thereby keeping the up-turned end from extending beyond the movable wall part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 161,277 Reichard Mar. 23, 1875 1,516,322 Beaucoudray Nov. 18, 1924 1,788,960 Shaw Jan. 13, 1931 2,423,699 Hand July 8, 1947 2,504,324 Goldstein Apr. 18, 1950 2,681,456 Schiemer June 22, 1954 2,706,299 Sespico Apr. 19, 1955 1 2,734,200 Kedrowski Feb. 14, 1956 2,774,082 Beaman Dec. 18, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 209,958 Switzerland Aug. 16, 1940 

